The bigger companies don't have as much power as you might think. At present the power is in the hands of the dealer. I can guarantee you that Piaggio is not going to rock the boat after all of the dealers they've had close down. They are only an example and not a scapegoat, the same is true of most other brands. Even Harley has not been able to keep its dealers "pure" during these tough economic times.

There is not a brand out there that has much clout with dealerships at present. They are all just glad that the dealer is still in business and they are not buying back bikes from GE who finances most dealers inventory.

I usually tell dealers to tell a company that might be pressuring them that they will do whatever they want if they will co-sign for the debt his dealership has. Usually the last you hear from them on a tough issue.

It is pretty tough to be a one brand dealer of anything these days. We are in all sorts of stores that sell what were formally seen as single brand stores.